Clothing Disposal Behavior of Taiwanese Consumers with Respect to Environmental Protection and Sustainability

Large quantities of clothing are routinely discarded, ending up in landfills that contribute to the environmental crisis; hence, it is worthwhile investigating how to dispose of this waste in a sustainable way. This study considered environmental values and prosocial behavior from behaviorism theory. The aim was to set up an environmental protection model for the sustainable disposal of consumer clothing. A structural equation modeling analysis of 407 undergraduate and postgraduate consumer data in Taiwan revealed that consumers’ choice to donate clothing was influenced by environmental values and prosocial behaviors. Clothing resale was influenced by the factor of prosocial behavior. However, prosocial consumers used other disposal patterns instead of resale. Clothing reuse was not influenced by either environmental values or prosocial behavior. The behaviorism theory model is effective in analyzing the factors influencing sustainable clothing disposal. To face clothing waste issues, one can intensify traditional values of industriousness and thriftiness, and of compassion and sympathy to others, to accelerate the promotion of the sustainable disposal of clothing.